Object supporting assembly



Dec. 15, 1964 w. H. STOKES OBJECT SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 19,1961 FIE-I- 1 Pas/flan 8 Pas/lion l/V VEA/ TOR W/LL IAM H. STOKES Br MiM Attorney United States Patent 3,161,263 OBEEGT SUPPORTING ASEMBLYWilliam H. Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to United States SteelCorporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 19, 1961, Ser. No.83,707 Claims. Ci. 159-433) This invention relates to an objectsupporting assembly and more particularly to a fence post assembly forsupporting a wire fence. Wire fences may have a single horizontalstrand, a plurality of separate horizontal strands or horizontal strandsconnected by means of vertical strands. In each case it is necessary tofasten at least one horizontal wire to a plurality of spaced apart fenceposts. Various types of posts and fasteners have been used in the past.One type of fence post used is a hollow post made of sheet metal bentinto a cylinder which may assume various forms in cross-section. Staplesand special fastening devices have been used to connect the fence wiresto posts, but these have various disadvantages. If small staples areused they may be lost in the field. Gther types of fasteners used havevarious disadvantages such as not being reuseable, easily lost,difficult to assemble and/ or provide a poor connection.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide an assembly forsupporting an object in which a firm, cheap connection is providedbetween the object supporting member and the object supported.

Another object is to provide a hollow post assembly in which a singleclip is use-d to support an object on the post quickly and firmly.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawin gs, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of a fence post showing various stages in theassembly of a fence wire against a post;

FIGURE 2 is a view taken on the line iI-II of FIG- URE 1 showing a fencewire secured to a post; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a preformed wire clip.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2indicates a hollow fence post which is formed from a metal sheet bentinto a hollow cylinder with a vertical slot 4 between the longitudinaledges of the sheet. The post is provided with spaced apart horizontalslots 6 and 8 on opposite sides of the vertical slot 4-, the slots 6 onone side of the vertical slot 4 being staggered with respect to theslots 8 on the other side of the slot 4. A fastening clip 10 as shown inFIGURE 3 is made of a Wire having a diameter of such size that it can bereceived in the slots 4, 6 and 8. The wire clip has a central loop 12therein which is of smaller size than the internal diameter of the post2, but which is substantially larger than the horizontal length of slotsd or 8 plus the width of slot 4. The shape of the loop 12 is notmaterial. Legs 14 and 16 extend from the loop 12 with the leg 14 beingabove leg 16. U-shaped portions 18 and 2d are connected to the outer endof legs 14 and 16, respectively, with the open part of the U facingupwardly. The wire clip is preferably ordinary galvanized steel, but ifdesired the central part of the clip could be spring wire and theremainder mild steel.

A wire 22 is fastened to the post 2 by means of a clip 10 in thefollowing manner: The loop 12 is inserted through the slot 4 with thelegs 14 and 16 substantially vertical as shown in Position A inFIGURE 1. The clip 16 is then rotated 90 in a clockwise direction whenin use with a horizontal slot 6 or in a counterclockwise direction whenin use with one of the horizontal slots 3. The arms 14 and 16 of theclip 16 are then bent around the outside of post 2 as shown in positionC in FIGURES l and2. In this position portions 24 and 26 of the legs 14and 15 extend beyond the wire 22 as shown in broken lines in FIGURE 2.The end portions 24 and 26 are then bent downwardly through around thewire 22 so as to wrap around the wire 22 as shown in position D inFIGURES 1 and 2. Bending of the end portions 24 and 26 can beaccomplished by inserting the end of a screwdriver a sufficient distancethrough U portions 18 and 20 so that the end of the screwdriver ispositioned under the wire 22 and a downward pressure on the screw driverwill result in bending the portions 24 and 2d, respectively, around theline wire which is used as a fulcrum point for the end of thescrewdriver. The clip 1% will retain its position on the post 2 since aportion of the loop 12 will be in the slot 6 or 8. The clip 10 is ineffect a single loop torsion spring member and any effort to forceablyremove the wire 22 will cause the spring to yield slightly and the endsbeing around opposite sides of the post will cause the slot 4 to narrow.Upon releasing the force the slack is taken up by the spring action ofthe loop. By changing the end configurations of the arms 14 and 16 theclip can be used to secure various types of objects such as pipes,insulators, hose, etc., with the objects running either parallel orperpendicular to the post.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An object supporting assembly comprising an object to be supported, ahollow supporting member, said member having a first slot through thewall thereof and a second slot through the wall thereof extendingtransversely from said first slot, a clip formed from wire having adiameter at least as small as the width of said slots, said wire cliphaving -a central loop therein of smaller size than the internaldiameter of said supporting member and a leg extending generallytangentially from each end of the loop, said loop being received withinsaid supporting member with each leg extending through said slots at theintersection thereof and being bent around said supporting member withthe leg extending from the right side of the loop being around the leftside of said member and the leg extending from the left side of the loopbeing around the right side of said member, the diameter of said loopbeing less than the length of said first slot and greater than thelength of said second slot, and means at the ends of each leg forsecuring said object.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the object being supportedis an elongated member arranged on the opposite side of the supportingmember from said slots in substantially the same plane as the secondslot, and the means for securing said object includes a U-shaped portionat the end of each leg having one leg of the U around the elongatedmember and the base of the U toward the slotted side of the supportingmember.

3. A post assembly comprising an elongated object to be supported in agenerally horizontal plane, a post formed from a sheet bent into ahollow cylinder with a vertical slot between the longitudinal edges ofthe sheet, said post having a horizontal slot through the wall thereofextending from the said vertical slot, a clip formed from wire having adiameter at least as small as the width of said slots, said wire cliphaving a central loop therein of smaller size than the internal diameterof said post and a leg extending generally tangentially from each end ofthe loop, said loop being received within said supporting member witheach leg extending through said slots at the intersection thereof andbeing bent around said supporting member with the leg extending from theright side of the loop being around the left side of said postand theleg extending from the left side of the loop being around the 3.. rightside of said post, the diameter of said loop being less than the lengthof said vertical slot and greater than the length of said horizontalslot, and means at the ends of each leg securing said object on theopposite side of the post from said slots in substantially the sameplane as the horizontal slot. i

4. An object supporting assembly comprising an object to be'supported, ahollow supporting member having a .1

longitudinal slot through the Wall thereof, a clip formed from Wirehaving a diameter at least as small as the Width of said slot, said Wireclip having a central loop therein of smaller size than the internaldiameter of said supporting member and a leg extending generallytangentially from each end of the loop, said loop being received withinsaid supporting member with each leg extending through said slot andbeing bent around said supporting member with the leg extending from theright side of the loop being around the left side of said member and theleg extending from the left side of the loop being around the right sideof said member, the diameter of saidloop a 4 7 being less than thelengthof said slot, and means at the end of each leg securing said object.

5. An assembly according to claim 4 in which the object being supportedis an elongated member arranged on the opposite side of the supportingmember from said slot, and the means for securing said object includes aU- shaped portion'at the end of each leg having one leg of the U aroundthe elongated member and the base of the U toward the slotted side ofthe supporting member.

References Cited in the file or" this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

3. A POST ASSEMBLY COMPRISING AN ELONGATED OBJECT TO BE SUPPORTED IN AGENERALLY HORIZONTAL PLANE, A POST FORMED FROM A SHEET BENT INTO AHOLLOW CYLINDER WITH A VERTICAL SLOT BETWEEN THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OFTHE SHEET, SAID POST HAVING A HORIZONTAL SLOT THROUGH THE WALL THEREOFEXTENDING FROM THE SAID VERTICAL SLOT, A CLIP FORMED FROM WIRE HAVING ADIAMETER AT LEAST AS SMALL AS THE WIDTH OF SAID SLOTS, SAID WIRE CLIPHAVING A CENTRAL LOOP THEREIN OF SMALLER SIZE THAN THE INTERNAL DIAMETEROF SAID POST AND A LEG EXTENDING GENERALLY TANGENTIALLY FROM EACH END OFTHE LOOP, SAID LOOP BEING RECEIVED WITHIN SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER WITHEACH LEG EXTENDING THROUGH SAID SLOTS AT THE INTERSECTION THEREOF ANDBEING BENT AROUND SAID SUPPORTING